The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

by Jonathan Haidt

Something changed in the 21st century. Rates of injury began to drop slowly in the 2000s, for young men only. The drop then accelerated after 2012 (and began happening for girls as well). By 2019, adolescent boys were less likely to be injured than adolescent girls had been in 2010. In fact, adolescent boys are now not much different from adolescent girls, or from men in their 50s and 60s.[29] Further evidence of a change: A nationally representative study found that fall-related fractures (e.g., broken fingers and wrists) decreased slowly and steadily, among boys and girls, from 2001 to 2015, but there was one group that stood out—boys ages 10–14 showed a sharp drop after 2009. This suggests a sharp drop in doing things that could lead to a fall, such as riding bicycles over jump ramps, or climbing trees.[30]